The present disclosure relates to patient beds that communicate with other devices and particularly, to patient beds that communicate wirelessly with other devices. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to patient beds that have wireless readers that read signals from other patient care devices.
Patient beds having mattresses with air bladders that are inflated and deflated so as to reduce the possibility of formation of pressure ulcers are known. Some mattresses include system to determine interface pressures and produce pressure maps so that areas of high pressure are able to be determined. Sometimes bladders beneath the areas of high interface pressure are deflated. However, if a pressure ulcer has already formed, the area of high pressure as sensed by the interface pressure sensing system may or may not correlate to the actual location of the wound. Wound healing is enhanced if pressure on the wound is minimized. Some known pressure minimization techniques include use of specialized patient support equipment and/or the placement of the patient in awkward and uncomfortable positions.
It is also known that patients having particular medical conditions may wear particular garments. For example, patients who are at an elevated risk of falling sometimes wear red colored booties, or so-called “red socks,” on their feet so that caregivers are able to quickly identify such patients as falls risks. Some hospital beds are able to implement a falls risk protocol by monitoring whether one or more siderails of the bed are in a raised position, monitoring whether a height of an upper frame of the bed relative to a base frame or floor is in a lowered position, and/or monitoring whether one or more casters of the bed are braked. Some beds may also have a bed exit or patient position monitoring (ppm) system enabled as part of a falls risk protocol so that an alarm or alert is generated in response to a patient exiting the bed or attempting to exit the bed or otherwise moving in the bed by a threshold amount.
Use of wireless communication equipment is becoming more common on patient beds. Accordingly, use of such equipment to improve upon pressure reduction capabilities of patient beds and to improve upon implementation of falls risk protocols would be appreciated by caregivers. Use of wireless communication equipment on a patient bed for other purposes such as insuring proper compatibility of the bed with the particular type of patient or with other types of equipment may also be desirable.